The double-cutaway body with sapele top, back, and sides is strong and resonant while the 22-fret set mahogany neck with bound rosewood fretboard is satin-smooth and dishes out sweet sustain. A master volume and master tone control 2 ACH-ST open-coil humbuckers with ceramic magnets.

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For the money, this is a good guitar as is. With some mods, it is an INCREDIBLE guitar. I would like to give this guitar a five star rating just because it is...Read complete review

For the money, this is a good guitar as is. With some mods, it is an INCREDIBLE guitar. I would like to give this guitar a five star rating just because it is such a great buy, but significant corners were cut in the making, most likely deliberately for the sake of price. This is understandable and expected in the world of mass produced guitars. Most notably, the tuners do not have a quality feel, the pickups are muddy, and whomever decided a flat finish was a good choice for sapele wood should take a closer look at the wood's natural properties and beauty. In my opinion, they used the flat finish as an excuse for not truly finishing the guitar, but instead, giving it a quick spray and sending it on its way. I was actually able to rub the excess clear coat off with the palm of my hand.

Despite these details, this is a fantastic guitar for the price. Structurally, it is a wonderfully built instrument. The set neck feels terrific and plays well. The wood has a deep resonant tone when playing the instrument unplugged. Like mahogany, but a bit more crisp. Set-up from the factory was well done. I love the Ibanez ART bridge and tailpiece. It is very solid, quality hardware. Unplugged, the instrument sounds fantastic. It was this that lead me to invest in some pickups that would bring out the true potential of the guitar.

I settled on the Dimarzio PAF 36th Anniversary for both the bridge and neck and don't think I could have made a better selection for this particular instrument. I also installed push-pull pots with coil split for the bridge and (while I was at it) the neck. The bridge split makes for a nicely defined single coil voice.

Because I wanted to make this instrument look as good as it plays, I opted to have the finish sprayed over with a semi-gloss clear coat which brings out the deep red color and makes the grain of the wood pop, without going overboard. I also installed some tall chrome pickup rings. Despite the lack of a finer finish and opting for some lesser quality components, my thanks to Ibanez for making this instrument and selling it at a low price point. Better to need to upgrade components than not be able to afford the guitar at all.

Where else can you get a sapele wood semi-hollow body, especially for this price? It's a unique offering and now, the most versatile, beautiful instrument I own.

VS

Most Liked Negative Review

Not too bad for the money!

I bought this guitar because I wanted to learn how to make some mods on my own. I found the guitar to be pretty good-over all. The workmanship and finish were all good and...Read complete review

I bought this guitar because I wanted to learn how to make some mods on my own. I found the guitar to be pretty good-over all. The workmanship and finish were all good and the there were no sharp fret ends like you find on most cheap guitars. This a good guitar for anyone whos wants a Jazz/Blues ES335 type body for not a lot of money. Musicians Friend gave me a good discount; and that made it even better. You should always check their website for deals and sales. I plan to change out the pick-ups and the tuners on my own to see if I can make the mods myself. If not I'll give to a pro to make the changes. But in the mean time I changed the strings and it really plays well. I even like the sparse, flat finish-it nice and done well. This is a nice guitar to play around with and you can upgrade later and make it even nicer. With a few updates, this guitar could be a smoker. But it's still great to play just the way it is!...

I would have given it a 10 here but this is not a maple guitar. Its all mahogany or in that family. A little warmer sound...not so bright.I like to keep it simple 3 way switch and tone and volume.Nice set up right out of the box. Matt type finish and limited chrome give it a nice mellow look to match its sound.Bought it when they had it for a great deal. Great guitar for the price.

"Oveall" this is a really decent stripped down jazz guitar. I won't hesitate to play it live or record with it. The value is fantastic. The pots, tuners, bridges and frets are all good quality. The bare wood grain (if you peek into the f holes) looks very nice.

I think that if you spent twice as much you may get a guitar that is 15% better.

My AS53......

Solid center block jazz guitar with semi hollow body &amp; f holes.Neck profile is not slender (good for me I like like a bulkier neck)Single volume &amp; tonr knob for both pickups (I like the single knobs - the pickups are hot and I can clean up my tone by rolling back the single volume knob - funtionality)Satin sapele body - feels good - sounds openFYI - the black model is dark brown sapele with black stain rubbed on - it's more brown than blackI gave it a 9 because ethey simply painted the Ibanez logo on the headstockstays in tunefit &amp; finish is very goodtone is very warm when you play clean and the gain is great if you overdrive itthis is a serious stripped down jazz guitarI own 7 Gibson guitars and the quality of this Ibanez surprised me (it's my first Ibanez guitar in 23 years)I compared the Ibanez to an Epi DOT. The Ibanez had better pots, better bridge, better tuners, the fret dressing was better on the Ibanez, the wood grain was prettier on the Ibanez.

Best $300 spent on a guitar - unbelievable value, sound, and looks. Way to go Ibanez!Basic set-up - 2 humbuckers, 3 way toggle, 1 Volume and 1 Tone knobs - all work as they should with no noise. Nice faded finish (I got the red) - feels sturdy.Just cannot beat the quality to price ratio - am absolutely floored at the sound of this AS53! Comparable to the Gibson ES in many ways, except for the name.For those of you who would not be embarrassed to be seen without the Gibson logo, I dare you to try this budget, yet outstanding guitar.

I gave it a 9 but it could just as easily be a 10---just a matter of features you want. Has every thing you need unless you want a vibrato. Really good. For me I see no reason to order the higher priced models like the as73 or as93, unless you don't like the color choice or type of pickup. The Ibanez site describes the pickups and other things too. As for the wood in this one,sapele, I believe it's the only one that has it. If you go to a site like Bell Forest Products you will see its a fairly expensive wood and is popular for musical instruments.This may be an actual advantage over the higher priced models. Mine is the transparent black, but with the wood showing through some, it's more of a subdued chocolate brown---understated color and I love it. Most Ibanez guitars, except for the Talman,which is junk, is a good value.

I just can't believe that Ibanez would make a guitar that would have bad parts, i sent back 3 of the flat red AS-53 because of bad tuner pegs and the finish had the only thing I can think of to call it is grit or sand like particles in the finish. the thing is may be I am being a nit picker or what ever but I think if your going to buy a guitar it should be without defects. I learned that if you don't go over your guitar the day you get it with a fine tooth comb, and you find things wrong with later then to bad for you so beware of that. any way so I thought maybe it was just this batch of flat red AS-53 that was bad so I would give it one more try with the black AS-53 well found problems with this one also the switch was very lose not at the nut but the toggle it self and again the tuner pegs are slipping and turning the screw on the peg did not help and at lease I did not find the wires hanging lose like some of the other ones. the guitar has a clip that holds them in place and I called Ibanez and they told me that the sometime the wires come lose when shipping and I thought to my self that means they know it happens and what if im taking my guitar to jam will it come lose when it is my car driving around from place to place. you cant even see the clip so how do you clip it back in place when it does come lose. anyway I really did try to keep this guitar I did like the way it played but it just did not work out for me. i even talked to Ibanez they said they would send me the parts to fix it I would have to pay for it myself or I could take it a authorize dealer that would take more than 2 week to fix it I should not have to wait that long for a new guitar to be fixed then ""I was told that if I wanted to return it after I had it been fixed that I would have to put back on the defected parts"" so I just gave up and returned it

I started playing guitar when I was about 14, but all I had in my house were acoustic guitars. So, I started going to a few guitar shops, pulling a few decently-priced, nice sounding guitars off of the wall. I had been to three or four different stores and had tried fender, epiphone, johnson, but none of them had the right tone for me. Then one day, I walked into a local shop that I hadn't been into and saw this guitar on the wall. I asked if I could get a chord and test it. It was absolutely perfect. It has fantastic clarity, great playability and responsiveness, gorgeous looks (if you care about that sort of thing), and great pickups. I love this guitar and would recommend it to any beginning electric guitarist, especially if they are looking for a versatile guitar. Fantastic value, I will never regret buying this guitar.

For the money, this is a good guitar as is. With some mods, it is an INCREDIBLE guitar. I would like to give this guitar a five star rating just because it is such a great buy, but significant corners were cut in the making, most likely deliberately for the sake of price. This is understandable and expected in the world of mass produced guitars. Most notably, the tuners do not have a quality feel, the pickups are muddy, and whomever decided a flat finish was a good choice for sapele wood should take a closer look at the wood's natural properties and beauty. In my opinion, they used the flat finish as an excuse for not truly finishing the guitar, but instead, giving it a quick spray and sending it on its way. I was actually able to rub the excess clear coat off with the palm of my hand.

Despite these details, this is a fantastic guitar for the price. Structurally, it is a wonderfully built instrument. The set neck feels terrific and plays well. The wood has a deep resonant tone when playing the instrument unplugged. Like mahogany, but a bit more crisp. Set-up from the factory was well done. I love the Ibanez ART bridge and tailpiece. It is very solid, quality hardware. Unplugged, the instrument sounds fantastic. It was this that lead me to invest in some pickups that would bring out the true potential of the guitar.

I settled on the Dimarzio PAF 36th Anniversary for both the bridge and neck and don't think I could have made a better selection for this particular instrument. I also installed push-pull pots with coil split for the bridge and (while I was at it) the neck. The bridge split makes for a nicely defined single coil voice.

Because I wanted to make this instrument look as good as it plays, I opted to have the finish sprayed over with a semi-gloss clear coat which brings out the deep red color and makes the grain of the wood pop, without going overboard. I also installed some tall chrome pickup rings. Despite the lack of a finer finish and opting for some lesser quality components, my thanks to Ibanez for making this instrument and selling it at a low price point. Better to need to upgrade components than not be able to afford the guitar at all.

Where else can you get a sapele wood semi-hollow body, especially for this price? It's a unique offering and now, the most versatile, beautiful instrument I own.

I rated the guitar as excellent because after I did all the setup and "out the door" work the factory should have done it is an excellent guitar. When it arrived, however, nearly every visible nut was loose from the tuners nuts to the jack nut. It has been my experience that usually a guitar comes tuned. But on this one the strings were loose and flopping around. The bridge was nowhere close to an intonation of any kind... had to do all that my self... good thing I could... As it happens I build acoustic guitars, so I have a few skills to apply, and it all worked out... would have cost plenty to have a another luthier do all that. But once it was done, great guitar.

This guitar is a steal. I have had mine for almost 2 years now (transparent red), and besides the sharp fret ends, I started to notice notes fretting-out above the 12th fret. I do my own set-ups and minor work, so having the proper leveling files and dressing files I was able to fix the issues I mentioned by filing down and polishing several frets at the top of the neck as well as filing the fret ends to eliminate sharp ends. Now it plays great. Also I have noticed that because of the extremely flat neck contour and consequent "flex", that it does not like light gauge strings - I had been using .009's (high E) and noticed that string pitch changed dramatically when pressure is applied to the neck - changed to .010's and do not have this problem. Overall this is a great guitar with beautiful wood - sapele is actually in the mahogany family and the grain is spectacular - several reviewers on other sites have expressed dislike with the satin finish, but I find it very appealing and because of the lack of clear coat I believe the sound and resonance is better. This is a good guitar with decent pickups as is, but it would be a fantastic platform for those wishing to replace pickups with something a bit hotter. Overall I am very pleased with this guitar and it is far and above a much nicer guitar than the Epiphone DOT which is the only other semi-hollowbody in this price range. Just be aware of the thin neck and it's inability to handle light gauge strings.

I bought this guitar because of the good reviews across the net and the price was right. I turned out to be better than I expected. First thing I did was replace the strings with a set of D'Addario light gauge wound 3rd and adjusted the intonation a bit. I've had a few higher priced quitars that were very good but this just feels right in my hands.

Great instrument to keep around the den to practice and jam. I never put much credence into Ibanez guitars, I've always been a Fender guy, but now I have to admit, excellent value and a decent little axe! Medium strings that come with the guitar are a bit heavy and limiting; found that lighter strings do the trick. Sustain is improved and finger flexibility is better. The transparent red color really looks great! Plus my wife loves the fact that the guitar color matches the decor she decorated the den.

I really do like this guitars, really good action no set up needed plays with a light touch of the hand and I was really happy with the tone and volume control knobs all you need is two anyway,.it does not feel like a plastic guitars. the thing is that the QUALITY CONTROL is very off for some reason I have sent back three of these guitars because of one reason or another from all the wiring that where lose in side the guitar you could see them just looking at the guitars, two of the guitars tuning pegs where all lose and could not be fix with just turning the screw on the pegs with a screwdriver, they have some kind of grit or sand particles in the finish and you could feel them on the neck for sure not a lot but it is their and on one of the guitars the tuning pegs have sharp edges on at least four of the pegs sharp enough that you could not clean it without the rag getting snagged on it, would not cut my hands but I have rough hand but maybe cut the hands of a baby, least the tuning pegs where working on this one and you could not see the wiring like the other guitars. anyway I am going to try one more time but this time I am getting the flat black guitar and not the flat red one maybe it had a different quality control inspector and the craftsmanship will have been inspected on this one, and yes this will be the fourth one I try hopefully this comes inspected and works out because I do like the guitar but it will be the last time I try...so for now no to a recommendation to a friend,,,. SO WHAT'S UP IBANEZ

I bought this guitar because I wanted to learn how to make some mods on my own. I found the guitar to be pretty good-over all. The workmanship and finish were all good and the there were no sharp fret ends like you find on most cheap guitars. This a good guitar for anyone whos wants a Jazz/Blues ES335 type body for not a lot of money. Musicians Friend gave me a good discount; and that made it even better. You should always check their website for deals and sales. I plan to change out the pick-ups and the tuners on my own to see if I can make the mods myself. If not I'll give to a pro to make the changes. But in the mean time I changed the strings and it really plays well. I even like the sparse, flat finish-it nice and done well. This is a nice guitar to play around with and you can upgrade later and make it even nicer. With a few updates, this guitar could be a smoker. But it's still great to play just the way it is!...

Not bad for the money. Sound is okay, could be a bit better. So you get what you pay for. Tuners not so good and will be replaced. Bridge/tailpiece rattles a little bit from time to time. I like this guitar and will upgrade it soon. Still, blew the Epiphone Dot studio out of the water! If you can wait to spend a bit more, you will probably be much happier.

As a lifelong acoustic rhythm player who has never gotten into lead licks, I was frustrated with the sound of my Strat clone. I felt like it was at least partly due to it being a solid body. So when I saw that this Ibanez semi-hollowbody was on sale, I couldn't resist. I really like the fuller sound that the hollow sound chambers give. As far as specific to this guitar, the satin finish on stained sapelle is very attractive (I got the black). And I like that the body is the same dimension as an acoustic, so it feels natural. The only flaw was a broken plastic shroud around one pickup. Rather than wait for a replacement, I fixed it with some super-glue.

I needed a real simple, good guitar and I scored with this one. It plays great and sounds really cool. I was surprised at how easy it plays way up the neck. I can get a decent high G bar chord, no sweat!